There is a great need for protective garments with a low permeability (i.e. a long breakthrough time and a low permeation rate) for certain chemical compounds or mixtures of compounds. The polymer membranes used in protective garments (e.g. gloves, coverall suits, hoods, boots, etc.) for use in a work environment or in the home must protect against chemical compounds or mixtures thereof which are hazardous to the health, such as solvents, paints, varnishes, glues, cleaning agents, degreasing agents, drilling fluids, or epoxy materials. Regarding protective clothing against hazardous chemicals in the work environment or the home, the main concern has previously been to obtain chemical resistance of the clothing, i.e. non-degradability. During the latest years strong concern about the permeability of protective clothing against chemicals has developed. Permeation studies have surprisingly shown that the breakthrough time is often less than half an hour, sometimes only a few minutes. The studies have also shown that the breakthrough time and the permeation rate is to a great extent dependent on the combination of the hazardous substances and the materials for protective clothing. In view of the foregoing, it is quite obvious that a great need exists for protective garments featuring polymer membranes without the aforementioned disadvantage. Unfortunately, no other method of selecting suitable combinations than the method of trial and error has been proposed. Epoxy materials and many solvents are particularly important in this context due to their toxic effects and allergenic properties on mammalian skin, in particular human skin.